This invention relates to an improved disposal device for animal droppings and more specifically to a device for the sanitary release of animal droppings scooped into a bag.
Many municipalities have laws and ordinances requiring animal owners to remove the feces left by their animals from public and private property. In carrying out this task, an animal owner is concerned about how he or she can accomplish this task in a sanitary manner.
There are numerous devices which can be used to collect animal droppings and place them in a bag. U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,351 to Orofino and U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,174 to Hennessy et al., for instance, illustrate pickup devices having bags which can be placed over the refuse and the refuse collected by pinching together other members of the devices to enclose the refuse within the respective bags. Since these bags open from the bottom and are closed with a pincher movement, these devices become awkward to use when more than one body of droppings needs to be picked up. Any refuse already in the bag will fall out when the bag is opened a second time, thus requiring a combined pile of refuse to be picked up in a second gathering.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,757,737 to Drum et al. avoids the problem of having the bag opening from the bottom by placing the bag so that feces can be scooped sideways into the bag. But this device has no mechanism to remove the bag without an animal owner touching the bag since the bag is held by hooks attached to a handle of the device.
In addition to overcoming the problem of having the bag oriented so as to scoop refuse into the bag, it is highly desirable for an animal owner to be able to cock a paddle in an open position for subsequent closing at his or her convenience. Then when refuse is found in an awkward, or barely reachable position, such as under bushes or beneath parked cars or trucks, an animal owner can usually position the device easily, and correctly oriented, to pick up the refuse. Then by just releasing a trigger, the refuse can be scooped into the bag. Later, the animal owner should be able to dispose of the bag and its contents in a sanitary way without touching the bag.